Worldwide Rallies Over U.S.-Iraq Conflict

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, March 14, 2003

Associated Press Writer

The antiwar drumbeat sounded urgently in Washington and around the world Saturday in a round of protests energized by the approach of conflict with Iraq.

In what could be the final chance to voice mass opposition before bombs start falling, protesters assembled near the Washington Monument for a march around the White House and carried their message to streets in scores of cities in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

An estimated 10,000 antiwar protesters, including many who remember World War II, paraded peacefully through central Tokyo.

"Let's put aside the discussion of which side is wrong or right," said Miwako Masuda. "In my youth, I experienced the war and lost my family."

In Washington, U.S. Park Police reinforced their ranks with officers from New York and San Francisco to help them handle the large crowds.

"Although permits call for as many as 20,000 people, we are expecting quite a bit more than that based on information from organizers," said Sgt. Scott Fear, Park Police spokesman. One protester held a sign saying "Viva La France," in gratitude for that country's opposition to U.S. war plans.

Sentiments were as varied as the locales, with many people saying Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is no threat to the United States; others insisting the dangers he poses can be dealt with through diplomacy and continuing U.N. weapons inspections.

Instead, said Lewis Wheeler of Boston, President Bush seems eager to unleash the troops.

"It seems like there is momentum building to use these soldiers," he said. "It's more glamorous to go to war than to hang in there with inspections for months and months and do the hard work." Wheeler came off one of seven buses that drove to Washington from Boston.

Teri Marche of Madison, Wis., carried an American flag and asserted: "Saddam Hussein is not a threat to us. This is a problem that doesn't need a solution."

Thousands rallied in Australia and New Zealand, and in Bangkok, Thailand, about 1,000 chanting demonstrators gathered outside a U.N. office. Protests against the war also were staged Saturday in South Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

On Friday, the Islamic Sabbath, 4,000 protesters shouted in the presence of even more riot police in Cairo, Egypt, and 300 marched Saturday at Cairo University. "This is a symbol," writer Mohammed Abdel Qudos said on the campus. "We know that we won't prevent war."

The call for peace was heard in European cities Friday, where millions stopped work for 15 minutes, and again Saturday, when noisy demonstrators took to the streets from Athens, Greece, and Bucharest, Romania, to Frankfurt, Germany, and Moscow.

And in Washington, where 70 former members of Congress asked President Bush to give U.N. weapons inspectors more time.

"Let us pull back from the brink of war and give peaceful solutions a chance to work," the ex-lawmakers said in a statement.

San Francisco police arrested nearly 70 protesters Friday during a demonstration that failed in its aim to shut the Pacific Stock Exchange. More protests were planned Saturday.

The route of the Washington march in the capital was taking demonstrators to the Washington Monument during the afternoon and then to the White House before circling back. Familiar voices of the antiwar movement were featured, including civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and labor leaders.

Demonstrators credited the antiwar movement for roadblocks faced by the administration in the U.N. Security Council and among allies, including the Turkish parliament's recent vote denying the U.S. military access to its country to attack Iraq.

Despite the 250,000 U.S. soldiers, sailors and aviators poised to strike Iraq, some protesters insisted war is not inevitable.

"The strength of the movement has prevented a war from happening before now," said Tony Murphy of the International ANSWER coalition, the main march organizer. "We feel that it's not too late for the people to stop this war." Activists also planned peace vigils worldwide Sunday evening.

The White House march was originally scheduled for March 1 but was delayed as the Bush administration continued to seek more international support and another vote from the U.N. Security Council authorizing military action.

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The administration has delayed that vote until next week if it ends up seeking that resolution at all. A weekend meeting on the Azores Islands with Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was seen as a final chance to salvage diplomacy.